


Cordially Encountered

by Liara_90



Category: RWBY
Genre: Character Study, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/F, Female Characters, First Meetings, POV Female Character, POV Third Person, Smoking, Volume 7 (RWBY), Wordcount: 500-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:08:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22641574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liara_90/pseuds/Liara_90
Summary: During the meeting at Schnee Manor, Robyn Hill steps out to get some air. Turns out a certain Specialist had similar ideas.Set around the events of “Cordially Invited”. Originally posted on Tumblr in December 2019.
Relationships: Robyn Hill & Winter Schnee
Comments: 9
Kudos: 26





	Cordially Encountered

**Author's Note:**

> This work (minus a few edits) was originally posted to Tumblr on December 22, 2019. You can find that version here: <https://pvoberstein.tumblr.com/post/189817122133/drabble-that-i-had-to-write-to-start-teasing-out>

* * *

The gardens of the Schnee Manor were, unsurprisingly, beautiful. Flowers in neat rows as far as the eye could see, trees trimmed to within an inch of perfection, marble fountains gently streaming glacier-pure water over carvings of ancient deities. Paid for with the blood, sweat and tears of Mantle’s poorest, Robyn knew, by the captive markets and the mines that had claimed so many lives. It was strange, in a way, seeing where all that wealth, hoarded over so many decades, ended up.

There was a flicker of movement in the corner of her eye. Robyn’s stance shifted slightly, as she all-but-unconsciously readied for the worst, but her brain soon recognized that the woman beside her wasn’t a threat.

Not _that_ kind, anyways.

“Winter Schnee,” Robyn said by way of greeting, turning to face the Specialist. Winter’s booted toe was stubbing out a cigarette on a patch of gravel underfoot, earning her an upraised eyebrow. “You smoke?”

Winter shot her a glare that suggested it was something of a sore subject, and then let out a small sigh. “When I’m tense,” she explained curtly, crossing her arms in front of her. “A bad habit, I know.”

“Well, nobody’s perfect.” Robyn shoved her hands into her pockets, turning her gaze to the shattered moon above. “You grew up here, right?”

She heard Winter’s boot scraping on the gravel. “Yes. This used to be one of my hiding places, actually. Nobody ever thought to look out here.”

Robyn dared a sideways glance, trying to imagine what a teenage Winter Schnee would have been like. And why the adult Winter Schnee had volunteered that. “What, you steal some of mom’s smokes and hide from your tutors?”

Winter shrugged. “Something like that.”

Robyn snorted, resting one foot on the wall behind her. She was low-key craving a cigarette herself - she’d had to cut back pretty hard during the campaign, and Fiona guilt-tripped her something awful - but it was probably a faux pas to try to bum one now. “You’re a hard woman to read, you know that?” Winter made, and then quickly broke, eye contact. “Running away from your father, from the Company, only to join up with Ironwood…”

“If you came here to _play games_ with me then I’ve had quite enough of that al-”

Robyn flashed her palms. “Easy, Ice Queen. I just needed some air.”

There was a moment’s silence between them, during which Robyn filled her lungs with that clean Atlesian air. Even _that_ was better than what they got down in Mantle.

“So…” Robyn broke the silence. “You have any other vices?” Winter raised an eyebrow at her. Which, Robyn just realized, was a different color than her hair. “Like drinking?”

“I’m not a robot,” Winter replied, icily. “And, yes, I sometimes drink. _Socially_.” There was a bit of an edge to that last bit, Robyn noted, though she didn’t have time to suss out the story just then.

“Of course.” Robyn straightened up, stretching her arms overhead. “There’s this bar on 34th and Nottingham, down in Mantle, real dive. You can still get the imported stuff, though. _Officially_ , I have no idea how.” She shot Winter a little grin.

“And why would I care?”

Robyn peeled away from the wall, strolling back towards the double doors of Schnee Manor. 

“Because sometimes I’m there. Thursday nights, mostly.” Her palm rested on the handle of door. “I think it’d be good for you and me to get to know one another.”

“So that both parties can cultivate trust and develop a working relationship, right?”

Robyn shrugged. “Something like that.”

Winter swayed slightly, her weight shifting from one foot to the other, like she wasn’t sure whether to play offence or defence. “Maybe I’ll find time in my schedule,” she finally replied.

Robyn swung the door open, hovering a half-step across the threshold. “Just don’t come dressed like _that_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yes the title sucks. One of the perks of writing on Tumblr is that I didn’t need to come up with one. 
> 
> Feedback of any sort is welcomed, comments are appreciated whenever you find this fic. Your reviews and readership are appreciated. As I wrote on Tumblr, this was an excuse to start teasing out what their dynamic could be, as much as anything. I'd love to see/do more with these two.
> 
> [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/user/pvoberstein/) || [Tumblr](http://pvoberstein.tumblr.com/) || [MyAnimeList](https://myanimelist.net/profile/pvoberstein) || [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/66323993-liara) || [Twitter](https://twitter.com/pvoberstein) || [FFN](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4779913/pvoberstein)


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